FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been at loggerheads with media and F1 drivers throughout the 2024 season. He specifically highlighted how he was portrayed in a bad light, especially by the British media. “If you look at the British media and what they did to me… For God’s sake, they convicted me.” Although this direct jab at the media was taken last year, it looks like his relationship has only soured since then.

This time around, Ben Sulayem was speaking to the media at the Dakar Rally, and out of nowhere he threw shade at British media. He claimed that time and again he has been targeted for unfair reasons and also made a cryptic reference to the British Grand Prix with Qatar Airways as its title sponsor.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem goes on a rant against British media

It is hard to single out instances or past happenings that might have caused this outrage for Ben Sulayem. However, he’s had a role to play in multiple incidents, including the sacking of race steward Tim Mayer and clamping down on the cursing by the drivers. Even Lewis Hamilton aimed a dig when Ben Sulayem made controversial claims about the use of profanity on the radio. So, it’s fair to say the FIA president has been in the news for a lot of wrong reasons.

But, it seems like he’s had enough of the media questioning his role and how he operates Formula 1 racing. “Three years of critics against me. Do I care? Was I elected to listen to the media? No… You look at some of the British media, and they go against Saudi Arabia or me. But one thing I would say, go on and see the British Grand Prix. Is it the British Grand Prix? No, it is the Qatar Airways British Grand Prix. Please, you remove the budget, you remove the money.” He was quoted saying this to Motorsports.com.

This latest rant by Ben Sulayem comes at a time as he enters election year, and he is likely to retain his position. He faces no competition for the FIA presidency, which could further deteriorate his relationship with the media. His comments from last year certainly hint that he is going to continue to run F1 according to his plans and rules in place.

“You know what they did to me? They made me stronger. I’m more careful now and more wise. And I have the support (of the member clubs). An id and when the members decided that it’s time to change me as president, it’s their call. At the end of the day, who put me there? It’s the General Assembly; it’s the members. I’m very, very clear with this. If they don’t like it, it’s up to them.” Ben Sulayem explained.

Although he might continue to serve as the president at the leisure of the General Assembly, the same cannot be said about the drivers. As they have had a tough time dealing with Sulaeym’s policies.

F1 drivers and the FIA president do not always see eye to eye

At times emotions and frustration can be indeed hard for the drivers to deal with. This results in them using foul language either on the radio or in interviews. But, FIA wasn’t going to see this turn into a trend and came hard on the drivers for using profanity. Max Verstappen was fined $10,000 following this comment, “As soon as I went into qualifying, I knew the car was f—ed,” after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc shared a similar fate and were reprimanded by the FIA for swearing. Mohammed Ben Sulyaem further solidified this ruling while speaking in an interview with Autosport, “We’re not rappers, you know. They say the F-word how many times per minute? We are not on that.” In response, GDPA also clapped back with a statement of their own.

“We urge the FIA President to also consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers, or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise. Further, our members are adults; they do not need to be given instructions via the media about matters as trivial as the wearing of jewelry and underpants.” The statement read.

So you see, there’s a brewing conflict within the Formula 1 paddock, and the statements by the FIA president could result in more back and forth.